Takehisa Yumeji

1884-1934

Small Works by Yumeji: Complete Portfolio of 20 Prints

portfolio of twenty koban prints, the exterior portfolio wrapper with the title, Yumeji shohin hanga shu, and the publisher's information below, Kato hanga ten shuppan, and titled on the spine, Yumeji shohin hanga shu, followed by the artist, Yume Takehisa; the interior folio cover decorated with a landscape with the same title on the front, and the publisher's name on the back; with twenty koban woodblock prints of beauties, nine signed Yume; accompanied by small folded informational insert decorated with a yellow flower on the front signed Yume Takehisa ga; the interior with text by the artist and publisher, Kato Junji (active 1930-53) discussing the series and by the ukiyo-e scholar Inoue Kazuo (1914-1939) discussing his beauties, likening his painting style to poetry; published by Kato hanga kenkyuusho hakkuo (Kato print research center), dated Showa 12 (1937, November)

7 5/8 by 5 3/8 in., 19.4 by 13.5 cm

From 1900 until 1919, Yumeji designed a new postcard every month. After his sudden passing in 1934, the publisher Kato Junji compiled Yumeji's small-format prints, many from postcards but also from book illustrations and magazines and released them in sets such as this one.

Reference:
Andreas Marks, Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium, 2011, p. 219 (on Kato Junji)
Nozomi Naoi, Sabine Schenk, & Maureen de Vries, Takehisa Yumeji, 2015, p. 53, no. 3.13; pp. 152-153, illus. nos. 86, 88, 89
(inv. no. C-3229)

price: $3,000